The European Commission has taken on Temu: the regulator raided the marketplace’s European headquarters in Dublin to check whether the platform is receiving hidden state support from China, which gives it a price advantage over retailers in the EU.
The European Commission has taken on Temu: the regulator raided the marketplace’s European headquarters in Dublin to check whether the platform is receiving hidden state support from China, which gives it a price advantage over retailers in the EU.
Reuters reports that the raid took place last week at the offices of Temu, the European headquarters of the Chinese holding company PDD Holdings. The European Commission officially confirmed the «unscheduled inspection» of the e-commerce company, but did not directly mention the brand. The investigation is being conducted under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, a tool that allows Brussels to punish companies that benefit from unfair state support from outside the EU, with fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
The crackdown on Temu is part of a broader conflict between European retailers and Chinese marketplaces. For years, the EU has been inundated with cheap parcels worth up to €150 that were imported duty-free. Local sellers complain that this has given platforms like Temu and Shein an artificial advantage. The European Commission has already decided to eliminate this benefit by the end of 2026 and is now testing another lever: control over foreign subsidies.
Temu has risen to the top of global marketplaces in a few years, aggressively entering the European market with the slogan «Shop like a billionaire» and dumping prices on everything from clothes to gadgets. The model of ultra-cheap goods directly from Chinese warehouses has attracted tens of millions of users and forced even Amazon to launch separate modes for «cheap purchases.»
Meanwhile, the European Commission is piling up complaints against Temu not only over prices. Separate investigations have already concerned price transparency, product quality, potentially dangerous products, and manipulative mechanics in the app. Now, the question is added: is Temu’s business model not supported by the Chinese state, which allows it to keep prices so low?
If the Dublin raid and subsequent investigation prove that Temu is using prohibited subsidies and distorting competition in the EU, the company risks significant fines or restrictions on access to the European market. For other Chinese players in online commerce, this is a signal: the era of uncontrolled «cheap imports from China» in the EU is coming to an end, and regulators are moving from warnings to forceful tools, including searches of offices.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Temu in Europe came closer to a record fine of 6% of annual turnover. To provide evidence of the sale of illegal goods on the platform, secret purchases were carried out at the request of the European Commission.
